Friday, February 22, 2008

According to reports, Daniel Gibson is out 4-6 weeks with a severely sprained left ankle. He sustained the injury in the second quarter of Tuesday's game against the Pacers, a Cavs win.

Fantasy Impact

Suddenly the trade deadline acquisitions of Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West are looking awfully important for Cleveland. Gibson has been the Cavs's main three point threat this season as well as their most consistent shooter. In his absence, the newly acquired Szczerbiak will see an abundance of playing time and should get plenty of open looks from long range.

Gibson was averaging 30+ minutes and around 5 three point attempts a game before the injury. Wally should see similar playing time (around 30 minutes) and a majority of those offensive touches. Szczerbiak was scoring pretty efficiently in Seattle, averaging 13 points a game in only 23 minutes and connecting on over 42% of his three point attempts. With the added playing time he will see in Cleveland during Gibson's absence, Wally should be good for 15+ points and 2-3 three pointers a night while maintaning a high FT% ( 86% for his career). However, don't expect much more from Wally outside of scoring output as he is a poor defender, rebounder and doesn't get many assists.